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Will FairRepair.com Diagnose What is Wrong With My Vehicle? |
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No, FairRepair.com provides the accurate cost to repair your vehicle after the broken part is identified. Diagnosis (what is wrong with your vehicle) must be performed by you or your Repair Shop.
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How Can FairRepair.com Help Me? |
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If you were a trained technician or a Repair Shop sales representative, you would be able to create an estimate of what the true and accurate cost to repair your vehicle should be. For the first time ever, FairRepair.com gives you the ability to create a repair estimate for your vehicle on your own without having any technical training whatsoever. Why is this important to you? First, when your vehicle is in need of repair you will now know what the fair cost to repair it is. No more wondering if you were, or are, being overcharged. Second, if your car or truck has already been repaired, you will be able to confirm that what your Repair Shop or service center charged you was fair.
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Is FairRepair.Com Affiliated With Repair Shops? |
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No, it is our policy to provide you with independent and accurate information with no Repair Shop affiliation. Because we are not affiliated with the Repair Shops, we are under no constraints and can openly provide you with the information you need to make sure that you are not being overcharged.
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What is a VIN? |
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Each vehicle has a unique number called a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). It is a series of 17 numbers and letters combined to describe the characteristics of your vehicle. A VIN is made up of capital letters from A-Z and the numbers 0-9. The letters I, O and Q will never appear in a VIN and neither will spaces or dashes.
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What are Labor Times? |
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Labor Times are the increments of time it takes to repair or replace a specific component on your vehicle. These times are available in labor time books/manuals or on trade software and is typically broken down into increments of an hour. For example, to replace an alternator the time might be .5 of an hour. In other words, the time to replace that alternator should take a qualified technician no more than one half of an hour. That labor time increment is then multiplied by the per hour charge of the Repair Shop.
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What are OEM Parts? |
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Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts are the parts that are offered or sold by your vehicle’s manufacturer.
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What does MSRP pricing of parts mean? |
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MSRP means the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price – or the price that the manufacturer (Chevrolet, Toyota, BMW etc.) suggests to the Dealer as the list price to be used for a consumer for a given part. However, the manufacturer cannot require dealers to charge the MSRP. A dealership may choose to adjust the part prices to more or less than the MSRP. FairRepair displays the most up to date prices for parts quoted at MSRP.
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Who is MOTOR®? |
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MOTOR Information Systems is the company from which FairRepair obtains part and labor data and who is the sole company in the automotive industry that services both the mechanical and collision repair markets. MOTOR also is the publisher of MOTOR magazine. The mechanical "OE Parts and Labor Database" is used exclusively by nearly every automobile dealership in existence, including Reynolds and Reynolds, as well as ADP, two firms that together hold over 80% market share in the dealer management systems market. The OE Parts and Labor Database is also used by a majority of companies in the aftermarket warranty business, which use the MOTOR data to audit claims. This program has saved a "who's who" list of companies many millions of dollars due to how they facilitate more accurate and automated claims procedures.
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What are Labor Rates? |
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The "labor rate" is what the Repair Shop charges per hour to work on your car and can range from $30.00 per hour to $175.00 per hour depending on where in the country your car is being repaired and by what type of service center.
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What are Shop Supplies/Charges? |
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Shop Charges, Shop Supplies or Environmental (Hazardous Waste) Impact Fees cover items such as lubricants, grease, rags, paper floor mats, cleaning fluids and other miscellaneous supplies that are not worthy enough of a line item on a repair order. Typically a Repair Shop will charge 10% of the labor or $10, whichever is lower.
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What is a technical service bulletin ("TSB") |
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A technical service bulletin ("TSB") is an advisory that is issued by the manufacturer and is used by dealership service departments in order to address areas that might have been missed or overlooked when the manufacturer designed the vehicle. TSBs frequently address a recurring problem(s) and may include a list of the parts needed, illustrated instructions for repair, the labor charge, and the warranty status. If a problem addressed in a TSB is widespread, the manufacturer may decide to send out "Owner Notification" letters with instructions for the vehicle owner on how to proceed.
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